


Juniper and Sage

by orphan_account



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Existential Crisis, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Sexuality Crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-03 23:11:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17293190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It is three in the morning on January first when there is a knock on the door.





	Juniper and Sage

It is three in the morning on January first when there is a knock on the door.

Tyler and Jenna are still awake, cleaning up after their eighties themed New Year's party. Their last guest had just left the house nearly half an hour ago and, hopped up on sparkling cider and buffalo chicken dip, the couple was taking down decorations and slipping into their pajamas.

Jenna is changing when the knock comes, so Tyler goes to answer it, assuming it was a guest who most likely left something behind. Instead, he’s met with a cold blast of air and his best friend shrinking in on himself on the front porch step.

A mustard yellow beanie and his wide frames cover most of his face and he’s wearing nothing more than a light hoodie, despite it being below freezing. All he has is a backpack.

“Josh?” To say he’s surprised is an understatement. Tyler is shocked; Josh had been in Los Angeles celebrating the holiday with his fiancee. Did Debby know he had come here?

Why was he here?

“Hey.” He coughs into the crook of his arm. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah, of course!” Tyler opens the door wider so Josh can leave the cold air for the warmth of the home. He sits down on the sofa, pulls off his beanie, and runs his ruggedly bitten nails through his short hair. Tyler kneels down in front of him. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, because I am, but... why are you here?”

“I walked here,” Josh ignores the question and his voice sounds ready to crumble at any second, “not like, from the airport, ‘cause that’s pretty far, but like... I told my uber to stop and I just fucking walked and walked and walked until I got here.”

“You managed to get a flight on New Year's Eve?”

“Took a private plane,” Josh mumbles. He takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. Tyler pats his knee.

Suddenly, Jenna’s voice comes from the master bedroom. “Ty, who is that?”

“It’s Josh,” he shouts back. Two seconds later, her head pops out from around the corner to confirm, her luscious crimped locks straight out of the eighties falling into her eyes. Jenna flails across the living room to pull her second favorite boy in the world into a big hug.

And like a dam, the floodgates open. Josh can no longer hold in his tears. He cries and cries and cries, letting Jenna hold him, sobbing into her chest. Tyler continues to rub Josh’s leg sympathetically, gnawing on his bottom lip as he tries to run through every possible theory to why Josh would flee L.A. and turn up outside his home.

“Babe, go get Josh some tissues, please.” With a nod, Tyler stands up, smooths out his (uncomfortable) leather pants, and marches into the hall bathroom to retrieve some kleenexes. When he comes back, Josh has seemed to cry out all he needed to.

“Here, man.” Tyler passes the box to Josh, who thanks him and blows his nose. Jenna offers to take his dirty tissues and disappears into the kitchen. Tyler uses that as his entrance to worm his way into the mind of Josh Dun.

He takes Jenna’s place on the couch and reaches out to take his hand. He begins to rub circles into the crook of Josh’s palm.

“Josh, you gonna tell me what’s going on?”

A sigh. “I panicked. I just fucking fell apart, man.”

“So you ran away?”

His entire body deflates. “I fled. I know it’s such a weak thing to do, but I... I...” Josh trails off, unable to finish. He stares at their entangled hands. “I know we just got engaged, and I do love her, man. I do. But she... I dunno. I feel like we want different things and I’m scared I’m not going to be able to give them to her. Like, we broke up once already. What’s stopping us again?”

“That’s what makes relationships so important. Both parties have to put in the effort to make it work.”

“But nobody is like Jenna and you, Tyler. You guys are perfect for each other. I just feel like if I don’t marry her _right now,_ I won’t have another chance.”

“You’re still young, man. We’ve still got time to do lots of things.”

“She was talking about what she wanted the wedding to be like and how she talked to her family and then started talking about kids in the future and... I dunno. I freaked. I told her I was going to the gas station and then I was gone. I’ve been avoiding all her texts and I know she’s so worried but I can’t find it in myself to text or call her back. God.” He laughs halfheartedly and sniffs as another round of tears begins to fall. “I’m such a fucking loser, Tyler. It’s the first day of 2019 and I’m already failing.”

“Josh, no. You aren’t a loser.” Tyler squeezes Josh’s hand and scoots closer so their thighs press up nice and tight together. “It’s okay to be afraid. I was scared too when Jen and I got engaged. You’re having to commit to a lifelong thing and yeah, that’s scary. Just because I act one way on stage and online doesn’t mean I’m actually that confident. If one of us is a loser, it’s me.”

“I just... it’s hard knowing there are so many people counting on me. People I don’t even know. How can I help them if I can’t even help the people closest to me?”

“We learn and practice and evolve and try again.”

Josh clucks his tongue. “I just wish... sometimes, we could go back to the old days. When it was just you and me and we were nobodies.”

“You wish you could turn back time? Dude, I wrote an entire fucking song about that.” They both indulge in some lighthearted laughter. It’s good to see Josh smile after so many tears. “Sometimes I think about that too. So much has changed since we started this journey together.”

“Even when we got signed, it wasn’t like this.”

“I know,” Tyler says, and he does. He does know because sometimes it bothers him too. Neither one of them imagined this was the life they would live. “It was easy when it was just you and me.”

“We... got to be... really close.”

“Mmhmm.” Tyler leans close to press a kiss to Josh’s cheek. “Just because we grew up doesn’t mean we grew apart. I still love you. I’m still _in_ love with you. Always will be. Jenna knows that. Does Debby?”

Josh shakes his head. “She doesn’t know that I’m... y’know. The way I am. Or that we did things together.”

“Do you ever plan on telling her?”

“I need to. I’m just scared that it will ruin things.”

“Josh.” Tyler moves so he can look Josh in the eyes and latches onto his shoulders. “You deserve someone that treats you right and loves you for you. I know Debby loves you, but if you think she’s going to react one way when you tell her about a pretty significant part of your life, maybe things... won’t turn out for the best. Like, does she know about us and Jenna when you two were separated?”

“Kind of. I dunno. I try not to talk about it very often.”

“You have to have these hard conversations if you want things to improve. That’s all part of having a relationship with them. The more secrets you keep, the less trusting you will be with each other.”

Josh sighs again. “Yeah. You’re right.”

Tyler leans forward to kiss Josh again, this time, right on his lips. Josh smiles underneath his soft touch.

“I want you to call her and tell her you’re here, okay? She’s probably worried sick. You guys can talk in the morning. For now, come cuddle with Jenna and I. I think it’ll be good for you.”

His smile falters. “I don’t want things to change.”

“Nothing needs to change. We still love each other, right?” A nod. “And we will continue to love each other until we die.” Another nod. “Come on. Bed, now."

That beautiful, crinkly smile of his returns that turn his almond eyes right side up. “Yeah, okay.”

And with Josh cuddled up next to his side, Tyler knows that everything is going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope none of you see this as a personal attack on Debby-- really, it was more of a vent fic for me. Sometimes, in relationships, it's hard to know if it's worth figuring things out. And sometimes, that's just how it goes.
> 
> I don’t have a tumblr anymore. Will keep you updated when I decide to go back.


End file.
